This is the painting I did yesterday, it was too dark to photograph in natural light by the time I was done, so I decided just to go ahead & get a head start on today’s painting & photograph & post them both today.
I had some set-backs yesterday, starting with having to wait an hour for roadside assistance – I had a flat tire. It was a very cold day, so I was glad it happened just outside my kids’ school so that I could wait inside. The tow truck guy who did come said that the reason I had to wait so long, and why he would have not taken the call if he knew … was because of the kind of vehicle I drive. It’s a Grand Caravan, and the spare tire is not in the trunk, it’s under the van. A poor design in his opinion because you have to stick a pole thing (not the official name I’m sure) in a spot in between the driver’s seat & the passenger seat to unscrew & release the mechanism that holds it in place. And that gets trickier if you have a console in that spot, or if you have a big fancy radio put in (there is a piece that goes on the top of the pole to help you turn it & it’s a very tight spot. “Scratch that, and it’s $4000” he shook his head). Luckily, I don’t go in for bells and whistles – as long as my vehicle can get my kids and paintings from point A to point B and isn’t always breaking down, I’m happy!
Anyway, my original plans for painting on location were scuttled and it was already afternoon before I settled at my easel to begin this painting. Coconut trees are of course a common sight in St. Lucia – like most tropical locations. And the image that comes to mind when you hear the words “castaway”, “shipwreck” or “island” is of a little island/big rock with one or more coconut trees. I called the painting Nature’s bounty because I was thinking of ways you could use coconuts, or coconut trees to survive if you were shipwrecked on an island … you could drink the water and eat the jelly, use the fronds to build some shelter and the husks for kindling. And there’s more. But first, you’d have to figure out how to climb the trees to get fresh coconuts. Survival of the fittest.
